1. Alyssa Shannon<br />May 20, 2011<br />Period 1<br />Final Essay<br />1,110 Words<br />Successes and Failures of the Byzantine and American Civilizations<br />A mountain has two slopes and a peak. A hiker goes up one slope, reaches the peak, stays on the top to watch the view, and then must go down, each step taking it closer to the bottom. Sometimes, the hiker might have to alter their path in order to be safe. Most civilizations’ paths are similar to this. The civilization reaches its height due to a series of successes. Once it reaches its height, it will stay there for as long as it’s able to sustain itself, and inevitably fall. Civilizations can succeed because of good trade systems, excellent relationships with other civilizations, first-class leadership, and superior military (defensive and offensive). Civilizations can fail because of a lack of effective military for defense, poor leadership, failing economy, as well as involvement in civil and/or foreign wars. Civilizations generally evolve if their only other option is to fail. This similar cycle of initial success followed by eventual failure is chronicled by historians in their descriptions of most of the great civilizations. How long a civilization is able to sustain itself in the “success” phase of this cycle is dependent upon its ability to evolve to meet the pressures of circumstances and meet the needs of its civilians. <br />The Byzantine Empire was at its height for over 200 years. The Byzantine Empire was an eastern continuation of the Roman Empire, and once the Western Roman Empire fell, Byzantium inherited all of the remaining land. After seeing the over-ambitious Roman Empire fall due to its overexpansion, Byzantium focused all of its military efforts on defending rather than gaining new territories. Though Byzantine military was neither strong enough nor large enough to contribute to the Crusades while simultaneously fighting both foreign and domestic wars, they chose to do so anyway. During this time many outside tribes were invading the empire. Due to its lack of strength and size, the Byzantine military became a major failure for the empire. It was unable to evolve into a strong military power and this lead to its descent. However, this does not mean that the Byzantine Empire had never evolved. In fact, the Byzantine’s entire existence is attributed to its evolution. It had to evolve from simply being an extension of the Roman Empire to being its own, separate civilization. Despite its final failure, it was a sustainable civilization prior to this because it had been able to evolve.<br />Similar to Byzantium, the modern civilization of the United States of America has had its own sets of successes and failures, modifying itself as needed to deal with the pressures of internal and external influences. Out of all of its past military conflicts, it has only lost one (Vietnam). Its military has evolved from a hodgepodge of colonial rebels into its current exemplary modern military, changing its goals and size to meet the needs of the day. In addition, the US has always had good relations with influential countries. These alliances have greatly contributed to the overall success of the country. They have provided a safety net during many international feuds. Another great success of the United States has been its acceptance and embracement of diversity of cultures. This allows the United States to accept and contemplate all ideas, not being blinded by differences and only looking at how the idea will benefit the country. Adaptations such as these to world and national situations is in the best interest of the country and are examples of how the US has evolved to fit its current circumstances. <br />Just like the Byzantine Empire, the US has been an evolving country from its start in the year 1776 to now. It began as a British colony focused on agricultural support of a foreign empire, and evolved into an independent nation and industrial superpower that it is today. During World War II, the United States stepped to the forefront as a world superpower when it joined the Allies to help defeat the Axis. Prior to this, the US was mired in a policy of isolationism. This new policy of working with other nations to promote democracy formed the foundations for the alliances that the United States still holds today. Though traits of its origins are still foundations of United States policies, its capacity to transition is what has allowed it to be considered a great power.<br />For all of the great things that America has built its success as a civilization upon, some would say that its changes are negative. It is evolving into the type of country that has more failures than successes. Although major failure is a fairly new concept to the United States, that does not mean that their failures are not abundant. One of these failures is the poor leadership decisions that the US citizens have made. Many of these leaders have gotten the country into unnecessary wars which drain America of money, valuable resources, and military forces. This failure has contributed largely to another, more pressing issue: the economy. According to the NY Times, the poverty rate in America is the highest it has been in fifteen years. As of September 2010, over 44 million Americans are living below the poverty line. The poverty rate is not only due to the amount of taxes being put into warfare, but it is also due to the lack of jobs available for the average American citizen. “Historically, it takes time for poverty to recover after unemployment starts to go down” (Ladonna Pavetti, welfare expert). Some might say that this stream of failure began with the Vietnam conflict. Most American citizens were against this military action from its start. This fact alone reduced citizen moral and overall faith in the country’s leaders. Not only did the US retreat from the military action, but it gained absolutely nothing from sixteen years of fighting.<br />What will determine the term of the United States as the world’s superpower will be its ability to continue evolving in order to meet the demands of the modern day. The country has gone through two of three of the main stages of a civilization: the rise and the height. Now, there is only one stage left, decline. America has gone up the mountain, and is standing at the top, hesitating. The only question now is: will we walk down or stay on top? So whether the US will ultimately fail or evolve cannot be concluded right now, however one thing is for certain: the United States is on the same road that Byzantium was on nearly 600 years ago.<br />References<br />Eckholm, Eric. quot;
Recession Raises Poverty Rate to a 15-Year High.quot;
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